Cade didn’t wait for King to come and launched into the air to meet him. Something had clearly happened to Reeve. The ex-bandit saw him from a distance, looking like he was going to cry—his eyes welling up and his lower lip quivering.

  “Boss! You have to avenge Brick!” King rasped out before landing. As his foot touched the ground, his body swayed, and he nearly collapsed.

  “What happened? Is he alive?!” Cade asked, catching his friend by the shoulder. King’s face was badly beaten up, presenting a whole range of colors—from deep purple to sickly yellow—though most of the bruises were already healing. He had deep, dark circles under his eyes, and his complexion was unnaturally pale. King’s normally lustrous, tied-up hair was in disarray, with signs of burning, same as his robe.

  The battered young man sat on the ground, nodding between ragged breaths, and Cade exhaled in relief. King finally took a closer look at the Asura, and his eyes shot wide open.

  “Boss, have you lost your sight?!” the ex-bandit exclaimed in a voice laced with dread after noticing the tribulation silk wrapped around Cade’s head. Regrowing lost eyes was almost impossible even for advanced cultivators. Losing one eye could be considered a tragedy; losing both… a fate many would consider worse than dying outright.

  “I’m fine, it’s a… uhm… a new cultivation art,” Cade made something up on the spot. “Better tell me, how is Reeve?”

  “He’s in a bad state. I’ve managed to stabilize him with pills, but he’s got severe burns all over his body, and he lost a precious opportunity.”

  “Tell me everything,” the Asura’s face darkened, the muscles on his jaw rippling with rising anger.

  “After the dip in the Spirit Pool, we headed straight for the Magitower. Quite a crowd had gathered there. We all took turns; everything was going well. Boss, do you know how the Magitower works?”

  “No. Is it important?” The Asura impatiently clenched his fists, finger joints creaking dangerously.

  Whoever hurt Reeve must be tired of living.

  “Err… sort of. I’ll make it quick,” King answered before describing what happened.

  It turned out that Reeve had gotten lucky in the Magitower, receiving a token to enter the fifth and final level. Apparently, this was a brilliant opportunity. After passing the trial, one could receive a top-tier cultivation art or a powerful artifact. However, one of the disciples must have overheard him talk about it to King and passed this information to Malon Voidwalker—a fey genius of the Tower of Arts’ Fire School.

  Cade recalled the handsome silver-haired youth, who was Aria’s distant cousin, and his irritating smirk.

  We’ll see how long that smile lasts once I get there.

  “What matters is that tokens can be sold or exchanged. Malon wanted Brickwall to sell him his token, and Reeve naturally refused. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; nobody would be stupid enough to sell their ticket to power. Malon got angry and attacked him with some bullshit fire rhino. We made huge progress thanks to the Spirit Pool, so the fight wasn’t very one-sided—well, not initially. Malon has only just advanced to early True Core, so other than having a lot more spiritual energy, he wasn’t much more powerful than someone at the great circle of Foundation Establishment,” King explained.

  “Oh crap, I’ve only noticed now—congratulations!” Cade exclaimed in astoundment. King had advanced to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. This was a huge deal. Normally, it’d take someone talented at least a couple of years to enter the middle stage.

  “Thanks, Boss!” King grinned, showing a gap from a missing tooth. Luckily for him, there were alchemical pills that allowed one to regrow their teeth. “Anyway, Reeve was kind of holding his own, but this Malon fellow has that big fire spirit. As you well know, Skeletal Reinforcement offers no real protection against fire. Brick landed a few good hits, forcing that fellow to pop a pill and use a defensive artifact, but ultimately the flames were too much,” King sighed. “I couldn’t let Malon kill Reeve, so I went after him with my Obsidian Cyclone Array. Boss, let me tell you, that fey fuck didn’t enjoy it whatsoever! I nearly had him, but then the two Shadow Dao Palace people joined, and all three ganged up on me,” the ex-bandit’s shoulders slumped.

  “Shadow Dao Palace? Someone I might recognize?” Cade frowned.

  “A pretty, blonde-haired girl and that morbid-looking elf who always follows her… Cara, I think is her name.”

  Cade grimaced inwardly. Of course it’s her. This stupid bitch is begging for death.

  King continued. “She and Malon know each other well; apparently, their families have some serious dealings. She’s a very angry person, you know. Not good wife material, though she has a nice arse...”

  “King…” Cade growled.

  “Sorry! Fortunately, I always carry a lot of antidote pills, so I popped them all mid-fight. In the meantime, your Martial Sister arrived, and they all got into a huge argument, though mostly posturing and no actual fighting. I used this opportunity to move Reeve into a safe location and came to find you right away.”

  After finishing in a single breath, King inhaled deeply. He was the kind of person who’d protect himself with ten different talismans—none of which likely did anything—and pack winter clothes for a visit south.

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  Cade sat on a nearby boulder, seething with murderous intent, forcing himself to think instead of acting impulsively.

  “Are you good for flying back?” he asked King after a pause.

  “I can manage, Boss,” the young ex-bandit nodded with determination.

  “Let’s go then. I’ll lead; I can see the time bubbles,” Cade said.

  “Oh. That’s great!” King’s battered face instantly brightened.

  Wasting no more time, they shot into the air, traveling in the direction of the Magitower. Cade swapped into his mindscape.

  “Legion, I’ll need your help. Would you be able to fight one fellow in early True Core on your own?”

  “Hehe, Master, who is one snotty brat to this spirit ancestor? I might have recovered a mere sliver of my former power, but it’s more than enough for this so-called prodigy,” the sword spirit chortled, sounding very sure of himself. “I’ll fuck him up real good!”

  Cade usually allowed the sword spirit to watch the world through his eyes; Legion was almost always up to date with everything going on, learning and growing from these experiences.

  “Just please follow my lead,” Cade lightly shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “Don’t nibble on his soul though. I don’t want them to know your… specialty,” the Asura warned, knowing very well what Legion was thinking.

  “Ehh… fine,” the spirit sighed, sounding quite disappointed. “I’ll try to restrain myself.”

  “I’ll find you something good to eat soon, don’t worry. There’d be at least two souls coming your way in the near future,” Cade assured him, grim notes weighting his tone.

  Legion immediately perked up and started whistling, his silver avatar bouncing around the mindscape like an excited child. Cade sent as much blood qi into its body as it could accept, ensuring it had enough energy for the upcoming fight. He then turned his attention to a small sea of tents appearing in the distance—their many colors a stark contrast to the ruined, lifeless surroundings.

  Right in the middle of a devastated courtyard stood a brilliant white pagoda, adorned with precious sculptures and various exquisite decorations—no more than two hundred feet in height, perfectly preserved. Focusing his eyes on the outstanding structure, Cade got the sense it was carved from a single piece of translucent stone resembling white jade.

  I bet this whole tower is a powerful artifact in itself.

  His eyes picked up numerous robed silhouettes bustling around the pagoda, most of whom surrounded the entrance to its lowest level.

  “King, why don’t you go look after Reeve and leave it to me,” Cade said after they slowed down.

  “Boss, are you sure? It’s not that I don’t believe in your ability, but…” the ex-bandit scratched his head.

  “I’ll be fine. Please make sure our friend is alright. I’ll find you two after I take care of these jokers.” An ugly grimace twisted his face, and Cade pushed more qi into flight.

  If I don’t help at least one of these fuckers reincarnate today, then my surname isn’t Ward!

  Cultivators were constantly coming and going from the dilapidated courtyard, and nobody paid any attention to his landing. Cade released his life sense to see if there were any powerful disciples who could interfere in this fight. Aside from several cultivators in early True Core and Muscular Enhancement, there was only one in the middle stage—a tall elven woman in a white robe, a core disciple of Sword Dao he vaguely remembered as being at the peak of early True Core before the Realm opened.

  The vast majority of disciples who had reached the middle of the third tier had wisely decided not to enter the Divine Realm. One of the main reasons anyone visited the Life and Death Divine Realm was to access the Spirit Pool. However, if a middle-stage, third-tier cultivator advanced into the late stage, they risked being wiped out by the Realm’s unpredictable killing formations.

  Cade directed his steps toward a distant group of disciples surrounding Malon Voidwalker. Most of them were from the Tower of Arts, aside from two. The fey was currently sitting at a fine square table, enjoying tea with Cara, who sat in the other chair. A rich, crimson carpet lay under their feet, and a broad white canopy hung over their heads—who knew what for, as there was no sun inside the Realm. Elanis stood two steps behind Cara with an ugly expression, glaring at those who dared come too close to his blond-haired goddess.

  As Cade started walking toward them, he picked up Aria’s life signature rushing from behind.

  When the fey noticed his blindfold, she froze mid-step, frowned momentarily, and her gaze jumped toward his left leg. When she realized he wasn’t missing any limbs, her expression softened. Moving like the wind, she swiftly reached his side.

  Cade smiled to himself. It’s a good thing I can regenerate limbs so quickly. Aria was very smart, and she clearly suspected one of the disciples to be the Asura—so why not him? He was definitely suspicious with his weird red mist that didn’t resemble any widely known cultivation art.

  “Martial Brother! What happened to your eyes?!” she asked with visible concern.

  “They’re fine; it’s a new cultivation art I discovered. Apologies, Martial Sister, but there are matters that require my attention,” Cade answered, resuming his walk.

  “Please, don’t go there! I know why you’re here. I don’t doubt you have power above your rank, but even you can’t fight two people in the True Core realm,” Aria urgently warned in a hushed tone, grabbing his forearm.

  Cade smiled softly at her, gently removing her hand. “I appreciate your goodwill, Martial Sister. Please be at ease. Since I’m here, it means I have confidence things will go my way.”

  For a moment, the fey’s abyssal gaze hovered over the tribulation cloth before she sighed. “Fine. I’ll help you as much as I can.”

  “No. Don’t get involved. You can’t fight your own clan member,” Cade shook his head, his voice hard as granite.

  “But… even if you win somehow, you might end up badly hurt. Their families… my family… I don’t know what they will do if one of them dies,” Aria tried to reason with him, being from the same clan as Malon. Someone around the table finally noticed her speaking to Cade, and the whole group burst into derisive laughter a few moments later.

  “Thank you for your concern, Martial Sister. Now, please leave so I don’t have to worry about you getting hurt.” Cade’s tone was unyielding. His eyes narrowed on Malon’s satisfied expression. He felt the river of rage well up inside him.

  Sensing the thick killing intent radiating from her Martial Brother, Aria instinctively took a step back in alarm. Then her shoulders sagged slightly, and she released another heavy sigh. “Alright. I hope you know what you’re doing,” she relented in a resigned voice. It was very uncommon for her to display emotions so openly; she must have been truly concerned for his life.

  “Don’t worry. The situation here will take a sharp turn rather quickly,” Cade turned to Aria, offering the beautiful fey his best smile, before his jaw tensed and he once again set his sight on the group.

  “Three people here have hurt my friends, depriving one of them of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!” his voice, empowered with blood qi, boomed, spreading all over the courtyard.

  Everyone present, regardless of what they were doing, looked in the direction of his lone figure.

  “Marlyn Voidwalker, Cara Long, and Elanis…” Cade hesitated for a moment, realizing he didn’t know the brooding elf’s surname. “…and Elanis the Dog. Step out and accept your punishment. One at a time or all at once—it makes no difference to me!”